The Battle of Jericho
by BonTempsCutie
Summary: Takes place during those dark days between Faefever and Dreamfever. The walls have fallen and Mac is in trouble. Where is Barrons and what happens when he finds out what has happened to Mac...
1. Chapter 1

_I am deep in the midst of a reread of the Fever Series by the amazing Karen Marie Moning. All of these characters belong to her. I own nothing and Barrons would tell you he can't be owned._

_This series is a crazy roller coaster ride that will leave you breathless and begging for more, but there are a couple of places throughout the books where my brain needed to fill in the blanks..._

_This takes place after that horrible night, Halloween night to be specific. There are spoilers for all of the books. Seriously go read this series! lol_

_Also, this is a Knishmas present for my lovely writing partner **Tradermare**. She's just as addicted to the enigmatic Jericho Z Barrons as I am! I'll be posting a few short chaps. Enjoy bb!_

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><p>Awareness comes slowly and then all at once I know where I am.<br>The sand bites my skin, the sun burns. But something is different.  
>Someone is here.<p>

I bolt upright, my hands clenched, ready to strike.

I know these men. They are mine.

"That bad?"

"Worse."

"Mac?"

"We need to get back."

"Tell me."

"There's nothing you can do for her now."

I growl low in my throat. That is not an acceptable answer.

"Leave us."

No one moves.

"Leave us!"

Ryodan and I stare at each other a long time. He runs a hand thru his hair and curses.

"Where is she?"

"She's in the abbey now."

"Now?"

"Z, I don't know what happened, but she was in Dublin when the walls came down. They-"

"Who?" I'm snarling.

"I found her at a church. Z, she was-"

"What? Tell me!"

"Darroc and the Unseelie Princes. They ... fuck Z."

I close my eyes and breathe sand in thru my nostrils. I turn and begin walking.

"Wait Z, she's Pri-ya."

That stops me. I shake my head once and keep walking.

"Z!"


	2. Chapter 2

_On the 4__th__ night of Hanukkah my writing partner gave to me – another chappie from Barrons POV! This is my Holiday present to the wonderful __**Tradermare**__ – Enjoy!_

_All of these characters belong to the amazing Karen Marie Moning. I own nothing and Barrons would tell you he can't be owned._

_I would like to thank the incredibly talented __**Indigobuni**__ for agreeing to be my beta. She has taken my words and added hers to the mix – this chapter would be a mess without her. When you have a moment go check out her delicious JZB/Mac one-shot – you'll wish there was more…_

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><p>My men might not always agree with me, might even want to beat me senseless right now, but fuck if I care. They're loyal and will follow me into the bloodiest of battles if commanded. Not that I'm expecting one today.<p>

It had been four days since Ryodan last saw her. Four. Fucking. Days. Said the kid zipped in and took her right from under their noses. I will kill them with my bare hands for what they have done to her. There is nowhere they can hide from me. I slammed my fist on the dash and heard something crack. Ryodan shot me a look but kept driving.

We drove to the abbey in silence. At least I had been silent. Ryo talked incessantly about what a lousy idea it was. I didn't give a fuck what he thought. I knew what I had to do and how I had to do it. She might not like it when it's all over, but she can yell at me then.

Driving through the wards was too easy. They knew nothing about spells and protection, I bemused to myself. Our convoy of vehicles pulled up to the front. With my heavily armed men flanking me, we kicked open the front entrance and marched over another set of ineffective wards.

Alarms sounded and girls screamed, but I could sense her through the din, honing in on the beacon I had placed at the base of her delicate skull.

She was here, below ground. She would hate that. She deserved better than to be left to this fate. Girls ran into rooms, slamming doors behind them or cowering in corners as we passed by. I wasn't here to harm them, as long as they stayed out of our way.

I began walking faster, my men matching me step for step. They knew we needed her. We'd been searching for the book for centuries, and this was the closest we'd come to getting it. They knew there were other reasons I wanted the book, may have even guessed there were other reasons I wanted to rescue Mac, but they were smart enough not to discuss it with me.

My attention momentarily slid to the far end of the hall. Something was coming fast. I could sense it. As it whizzed by, I reached out and plucked it from thin air, like picking off a fly in mid-flight.

It was the kid. Mac had told me about her; this little slip of a girl who had fought by Mac's side, killing Unseelie with the sword. _This_ is who saved her.

_I_ should have been there! She should have gotten on that damn plane with me! I should have fucking voiced her and _made_ her go with me!

I held the girl tightly, but kept my voice low. I needed to see Mac and get her out of here. She said they were keeping her in a dungeon. The old witch will pay for that.

At once we both turned our heads toward a poorly lit corridor, sensing something dark. I let her go and headed for the dungeon, but the kid flies by, getting there before us.

The Princes had come to claim what they had made … or unmade as the case was. The kid had already killed one of those fucking bastards by the time we entered the room and the other sifted out at the sight of me.

When I looked down, I almost came undone. My throat tightened and I couldn't breathe. She was clinging to the kid's leg and writhing on the ground.

I stared a few more moments and then back up to the kid. She needed to make a choice, now. She moved out of my way. Good choice.

Mac was naked, covered in sweat and blood, lying on a cold stone floor.  
>What. The. Fuck.<p>

I'd kill the old bitch now if she were in front of me, but I'll deal with her soon enough.

I bent down and picked her up. My body crackled with electricity at her touch and I crushed her to my core. I struggled to restrain her. She resisted at first, but deep inside her body remembered mine. I think.

She wrapped her arms and legs around me and I grab a tattered and soiled blanket off the floor to cover her. I won't let anyone else see her like this. I promise her this and more.

I marched up the stairs and back toward the entrance. My men surrounded us; their heads fixed straight ahead, weapons at the ready. It's all I can do to hold onto Mac. Her hands, arms, and lips were everywhere, her body rubbing up and down against mine. A low growl quietly bubbles up from my throat, but I shake it off and stalk out of the abbey.

Ryo started the engine as I climbed into the back of the Hummer with her. I was going to have him drive us to a safe house, but change my mind. I didn't want _anyone_ knowing where I was taking her.

I clutched Mac closer to me, trying to contain her as she grinded down on my lap. When I looked up, a set of narrowed eyes stared back at me in the rearview mirror.

"Change of plans. Dublin. Now."

He looked back at me questioningly, but said nothing as we sped off into the night.


	3. Chapter 3

_All of these characters belong to the amazing Karen Marie Moning. I own nothing and Barrons would tell you he can't be owned, if he decides to tell you anything…_

_The incredibly talented __**Indigobuni **__has once again taken my words and made them sound better. Not only is she a fabulous beta but she has written a very steamy __JZB/Mac one-shot – go check it out!_

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><p>I held her body tight against mine. She was safe in my arms.<p>

She straddled my lap, her body arching against mine as she pressed down on me.

My dick was hard. It had been hard since I kicked in the fucking door of the abbey.

Ryodan had told me that Dublin was a mess. There were no papers printed after October 31st, but reports of mobs and looting were rampant. He had found my Ferrari, windows smashed in, on the street. _Fuck._ She never even made it out of the city.

With no lights to stave them off, the Dark Zones had spread taking hundreds of thousands of humans in their wake. I only gave a fuck about one human. How had she survived that night? And how had they finally captured her?

Ryo saw her naked and unconscious form, on the steps outside the old church. She had been surrounded by that arrogant fuck Darroc and three of the Unseelie Princes.

_Three. Unseelie. Princes_. I seethed.

For a moment I flashed on a vision of them with their hands all over her, doing things to her only **I** should be doing. My grip on her tightened as a growl emanated from the back of my throat.

How had she not died from all they had done to her?

Why hadn't she called me?

None of it mattered.

As we sped down eerily quiet roads, I finally let myself take a good look at her. I needed to see how bad her injuries were. Removing the sheet carefully to only expose certain areas at a time, she moaned and ripped it off. Did no one at that blasted abbey take care for of her? That old witch was going to die, slowly.

She was covered in dried blood. And fuck, she smelled like them.

I pushed her matted hair back from her face. There were no bruises or marks on it. I checked her arms and legs. Nothing. I expected her to be a giant contusion, but instead her skin was warm and smooth.

Lust oozed from every pore.

Freed of the tangle of sheets, she climbed up higher on me, pushing her exquisite breasts into my face. Stretching her lithe arms over her head, she twisted them then laced them around my neck. Her fingers twined in my hair, massaging my scalp, holding me to her. She threw her head back and then brought her face to mine.

It was her eyes that killed me. There was no recognition there. Only need. She didn't know me, yet she would give herself to me, over and over, to do with as I commanded. I closed my eyes and clenched my fists. I will bring her back from this and I will destroy those that did this to her.

I didn't even notice Ryo had stopped the car until his hands were on my shirt and he was punching me. Suddenly the car was too fucking small and I wanted to rip the bloody roof off. But something was pawing at my legs, stroking me. How the hell did she get on the floor?

"Z! What the fuck are you doing? Rein it in now unless you want to lose her before you even get a chance to save her." Ryo snorted.

I heard him. We'd talked about how I could make this work, bringing her back from being Pri-ya. She was already beginning to imprint on me, and it had to remain that way. I wouldn't hurt her and I wouldn't use her. I'll give her what she needs, whatever she needs, so her mind has time to heal. I breathed. I stilled my body and things came back into focus.

I pushed him off of me and looked down at her small body kneeling at my feet, rubbing against my legs like a damn cat in heat. _Fuck_.

"Mac, I'm sorry. You have nothing to fear from me." Using a gentle tone so as not to frighten her, I lifted her up by the shoulders and sat her back on my lap. "It's okay." I reached behind me and grabbed one of the blankets I'd thrown into the back seat earlier. She always hated being cold. I wrapped it around her and pulled her face close to mine. "I'm here and I'm going to take care of you. Understand?"

She didn't, but she was no longer afraid. I folded her into my arms as she kissed me. I kissed her back and told her to sleep. Ryo was right. I needed to get my head in the game.

"Wait." I gave him the address for the safe house I intended to use.

"Now you're thinking with your head. I'll start warding it while you get her inside."


	4. Chapter 4

_All of these characters belong to the amazing Karen Marie Moning. I own nothing and Barrons would tell you he can't be owned, if he decides to tell you anything…_

_Have I mentioned how much my beta_ _**Indigobuni **rocks?_

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><p>Still. She was so damn still. <em>Finally.<em>

She had been moving non stop since I first saw her at the abbey. Hands, lips, legs everywhere. Touching, licking, rubbing. No wonder I almost lost it. Any man would and be glad of it.

I traced her face with my fingers. I had raked her face and body with my eyes many times, but it was rare that I got to touch her like this. Softly, gently. Committing to memory the contours of her cheeks, the fullness of her lips, the delicate arch of her brow. If she were awake and aware, what would she say. I smirked.

She was always trying to label me, define me, find the similarities between us, while I constantly tried to point out our differences. She thought she had begun to understand our differences. She only knew the half of it.

Her beast was asleep now.  
>Mine was alive and raging.<br>Pacing a fucking hole inside my chest.  
>It wanted out.<br>It wanted _her.  
><em>It always had, from the moment she stumbled into my world. All blonde and pink with that wide-eyed innocence.  
>But there was something deeper behind those beautiful green eyes.<br>We recognized something in her she had yet to recognize in herself.  
>It frightened her and excited her.<p>

I smoothed her hair back and pulled the blanket up higher. I cradled her to me, closing my eyes relaxing in that moment.

_I don't want to let her go_. The beast roared within me.  
>The man in me knew better. <em>Staying with me is dangerous<em>.  
><em>I can protect her from all of that.<br>__We didn't protect her from this.  
><em>_Look at what happened when we left her alone._

I snarled inwardly at my beast.

_Touché my friend. Touché._

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><p>She started to stir as we arrived at our new home. <em>Home<em>. One of our last conversations had been about home. She had been lonely and wanted me to come _home_. How did this once innocent young girl from across the ocean find a way to crawl inside my heart and set up a home there?

I told her not to build her world around me.

And yet, I came _home_. And we'd had one of our better fights. A classic. Right down to the pink cake smashed onto the ceiling, her flat against the wall with my body pressed up against hers and my hand wrapped tightly around her throat.

She got me a fucking birthday cake. My chest tightened at the memory. It was pink, and it was definitely more for her than for me, but still ...

I wanted her to tell me she cared. But she couldn't. Wouldn't. Why the _fuck_ did I care? My beast snorted at me. That bloody beast and I fought about her constantly. Hell Ryodan and I fought about her. But in this moment, now, I could care for her as I liked. No one would dare judge me either way. The beast inside me was calm and Ryodan was letting things go, for now.

Here I was bringing her back, again, from near death. I had sworn to protect her and I had failed. Several times. It was in those moments, usually right before what I expected to be her death that I allowed myself to hold her. In those moments, my beast and I were at peace. We both knew this was unwise. I was constantly pushing her away while wrapping an invisible chain tighter around her. I wanted her bound to me, but I wanted her to choose that for herself. Even though I was sure I would be the death of her.

From the shadows I had watched her eat that fucking cake. She had wiped away a few tears that slid silently down her face. She was right. I was a jackass. But letting her get that close to me was dangerous for both of us. She had no idea what my men were capable of. Are capable of still.

But now I would give anything to have her look into my eyes and remember me.

_Come on Mac, fight with me._ If you only knew the real reason I always came after you and would always save you.


	5. Chapter 5

_All of these characters belong to the amazing Karen Marie Moning. I own nothing and_ _Barrons won't tell you what you want to hear…_

_Thank you to all of you who have read, alerted, favorited and sent me words of __encouragement. I only hope I continue to do these characters justice._

_Huge kudos to my beta_ _**Indigobuni! **__She's keeping my head in this game even when_ _JZB is trying to kick me out. _

_Also, special thanks to the wonderful __**TraderMare**__ who looked this over one last time and helped me with some final tweaking._

_Enjoy!_

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><p>His mark.<p>

His bloody fucking mark was on the back of her head.

I found it when Ryodan had swerved to miss another fucking Faery pothole. She flew out of my arms and almost hit her head on the door. I grabbed her by the neck to steady her and that's when I saw it.

_If he thinks he can take her from me ..._

My nostrils flared and the muscles in my jaw worked overtime as I tried to keep it together. I crushed her to me for the rest of the drive.

When the walls came down the fae world started bleeding into this one. The roads were littered with portals; wisps of entrances and exits to other worlds that were so thin, it took a trained eye to see them.

Naturally, Ryo was adept at dodging them. It took longer than I wanted, but finally we arrived.

"I'm going to get her ... settled. Start at the door and cover the perimeter."

Ryodan's mouth lifted at the corners. "What exactly am I warding against?"

"Everything," I growled knowing I would be going over the entire property after he left. I wasn't leaving anything to chance, and there were wards and spells that even Ryodan didn't know about.

No one knew I owned this house. I made sure of that. I had scoured every inch of this place, eliminating any possible points of entry. From the outside, it looked like a dilapidated building that no one would bother looking at twice. There was no visible sign of electricity, but generators in the basement gave us everything we needed. That was where we were heading … eventually.

But right then I needed to get their stench off of her. She reeked of Unseelie. I tried not to think about the whys and hows of it, and remaining composed was difficult with her hands all over me again. She was wrapped around my torso, groping me in ways that made me anything but calm. As she ripped yet another one of my favorite shirts to bits, I marched up the steps to the second floor, one of the many large duffel bags I had brought with me slung over one shoulder.

At the top of the steps there was a long hallway with several rooms leading off of it. I headed for the bathroom where there was a large walk-in shower. With her still attached to me it was easy to open the bag and get out various soaps and shampoos I had picked up before leaving for the abbey. If I surrounded her with familiar things I thought it would bring her back. I knew it wouldn't be quite so easy, but until that moment when I saw her on that cold, stone floor, I didn't know it was going to be quite so hard either.

Standing outside the shower I turned the water on as hot as it would go. She enjoyed scalding hot showers. I had the fucking water and gas bills to prove it, not that I cared. I kicked off my boots while she slid up and down my body, licking, kissing. She popped the button of my jeans and used her feet to help slide them down and off of me. After relocking her legs around me like a vice, she grabbed my face and shoved her tongue in my mouth. I didn't stop her. I opened the shower door and the steam enveloped us.

I turned her so that she was fully under the spray of the shower. That's when she bit down on my tongue, sharply, dropped to the floor and began screaming like a bloody banshee. I looked around to see where the danger was.

She was cowering in the corner, her arms bent above her head to block the water. She was still screaming. _Fuck_. It was the first sound she had made. I quickly turned the water off and bent down. She was frantic. If she could crawl between the tiles and hide she would. I was on my knees beside her unsure of what to do. And I thought _I_ was going to bring her back from being Pri-ya?

Her skin was red and blotchy. Was she just too sensitive to the water? Was that it? I knew some of what it meant to be Pri-ya, your body completely alive and ready to serve its master over and over. But no one had ever been turned by three Unseelie princes before. Maybe that electricity I felt whenever our skin touched was about more than our beasts.

Grabbing the blanket I had wrapped her in earlier, I brought it into the shower and draped it around her shoulders. I gently stroked her through the blanket and tried to calm her. She let me. For a moment I thought I saw something shift in her eyes. A spark of recognition maybe? But then she reached her hand out from under the blanket and grabbed my cock, her pink tongue swirling over the head.

My body shuddered before I took her roughly by the shoulders, lifting her and trying to make her look into my eyes. She always looked me in the eye. Few would hold my gaze. She could.

I shook her. "Mac can you hear me? I'm going to bring you back. You _don't_ want this."

She began stroking my thighs with her soft, warm hands.

Growling, I threw her over my shoulder. She reached down and grabbed my ass. This woman would be the death of me yet.

I carried her out of there and headed for the master suite where there was a large bathtub. With her still slung over my shoulder I started the water, making sure it wasn't too hot this time. Just as I was about to set her down her hands began making their way towards my ass, her fingers probing...

Quicker than she knew, her back was up against the wall, her hands trapped over her head. She was fucking grinning. No fear there. She wanted this, she wanted me. Leaning forward she nipped at my lower lip and wrapped a leg around my thigh, stroking up and down.

I slammed my body against hers and covered her mouth with mine. She tasted incredible. This is what I had been wanting, lusting for these past few months. And she was offering it to me, freely. My beast roared. Well, maybe not freely.

I picked her up and carried her into the bath. With her arms wrapped around my neck, her breasts pressed into my face, I watched for her reaction as I lowered her into the tub. She tensed as her ass hit the water but then she stretched in my arms and relaxed. With one arm still supporting her back, I let go of her legs which she quickly banded around my waist, and pushed her chest back until her head and back hit the water. She arched, and her breasts popped out of the water. _Fuck_, her nipples were hard and pink and I wanted to suck on them until she came in my hand, on my dick, in my mouth.

Instead, with great restraint, I reached over and grabbed a washcloth. She thrashed in my arms.

I spoke more soothing words to her she didn't understand. Lathering my hands with her favorite bath gel I began cleaning her. I don't know which one of us was soothed more by this. Her, because my hands were all over her, or me, because my hands were all over her.

As I bathed her I found it again. _His_ mark. Next to mine. I wanted to sear it from her skull, but I couldn't. It would be painful and she'd already been hurt too much. It didn't matter. He wasn't getting anywhere near her again. I was going to take off his fucking head.

The pent up tension in her body began to ease. She was practically purring. I turned to grab her favorite shampoo when hard arms latched onto me again.

"I'm not leaving Mac. It's okay. I'm right here." I would say those words often. "I was just going to get-"

She tackled me. Water splashed everywhere as we were submerged in the tub. I lifted us back up and her lips immediately locked on mine. She had one hand wrapped tightly around the back of my neck the other firmly gripping my cock. With amazing precision she impaled herself on me.

In hindsight I should have fucking known better. It had been four days. This was what her body wanted, demanded, and it had been denied too long. Even though my beast was threatening to rip her in half, this was what she craved. More than food, water or warmth, _this_ is what she needed.

We both cried out as I filled her. My hands wrapped around her waist. I tried to hold her steady but she was fighting me. I slowly ran my tongue up and between her breasts, latching onto one of those tight nipples that had been teasing me since I had first met her. She arched her back and pressed into me, no longer struggling against my hold.

I held her there as long as I could, waiting for her body to adjust. She hissed and began rocking wildly in my arms again. My fangs pressed against my lips as I felt myself grow inside her. I tried to hold back, for her sake.

I had envisioned our first time together dozens of different ways – under me, from behind, on top of me, but never like this. With her sitting on me in a bathtub on the outskirts of Dublin. I looked, but there was still no light in her eyes. The woman who sat on my lap, impaled on my cock, wasn't my Mac.

Then all thought left me and I no longer gave a fuck as she ground down on me, head thrown back as she held onto my face with both hands. She was tight, so fucking tight clenching my cock like a vice, grunting and demanding more. I rolled on top of her and pushed her until her back hit the edge of the tub. I began thrusting harder and deeper. Gripping the edge of the tub I leaned down and devoured her lips.

With a growl, I grabbed her and rolled us out of the tub and onto the cold tile floor. She cried out as I removed my cock, but then I flipped her over and entered her from behind. She pushed her hips back into me, she was insatiable, a wild thing in my hands. Desperate for more she bucked and rolled her hips. It was as if her body exploded with every touch, and while I was concerned I might hurt her, I couldn't help but enjoy myself.

"Mac." It came out as a growl.

I loomed over her.

She was panting beneath me, her eyes closed. _Had I hurt her?_

"Mac?" I grabbed and turned her face. Fuck, I needed to see her eyes.

She looked up at me and smiled. Throwing one arm behind my head, she arched her ass hard into my hips. Using her other to touch herself she came loud, losing herself in the pleasure.

I picked her up and stalked back into the bedroom, tossing her onto the bed. Before she could move I was on her, snarling as I flipped her on her stomach. I pulled her hips back so she was on her knees and entered her from behind again.

_Yes. This was what we wanted. She was ours and always would be. No one would take her from us again. No one would have her again. Ever. This was right. Nothing else mattered._

I came hard with a roar. Then I grabbed her by the hips, flipped her over and began thrusting into her again. _Mine_!

There was a pounding on the door.

"Bloody hell Z! The whole fucking neighborhood could hear you, if anyone was still alive here."

I crouched over her, snarling and snapping at the door. No one was taking my woman again. _Fuck_. No one was going to _look_ at her if I could help it. Not even Ryodan.

"Whoa. Easy Z. Get. Her. Downstairs."

I waited and listened until I was sure he'd gone back outside. I swung my head that now felt too big for my body back to her. She was glistening with sweat. Her arms wrapped around my legs, rubbing, soothing. She cocked her head to the side then sat up between my legs which were still crouched over her in a protective stance. She took my massive head in her hands and began placing kisses all over it.

"Mac." I hissed.

I began to come back to my senses, my body transformed, my face no longer the face of the beast. _She_ soothed _me_.

I wrapped my arms around her and rolled her so that she was on top of me. I gathered the blanket and pulled it around us.

She began writhing and arching into me.

"_Sleep_." I had fucked her and now I needed to hold her.


	6. Chapter 6

_All of these characters belong to the amazing Karen Marie Moning. I own nothing and_ _Barrons, he's busy right now…_

_I couldn't have done this without my beta_ _**Indigobuni! **__She's keeping my head in this game even when_ _JZB is trying to kick me out._

_Also, special thanks to the wonderful __**TraderMare**__ who has been an eager pre-reader for me._

_And last but not least, thank you to all of you who have read, alerted, favorited, rec'ed and sent me words of encouragement. I am blown away by the response this story has received! Sadly this is the last chap of this particular fic, but I do have a couple of other Fever fics in the works. Until then, if you need more after this chap just go to the beginning of Dreamfever – I still don't know why she ever left that basement…_

_Enjoy!_

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><p>"Mac!"<p>

Growling, I whipped my head around to find a pair of gorgeous green eyes looking up at me from under dark bangs. She smiled as she bent down to kiss me reverently where she had just bitten me…on my ass. At least I wasn't facing her. Thank fuck for that.

It had taken me a few days but I finally figured out that if I covered myself in food, she would eat. She was losing too much weight and burning calories like she was running a constant marathon. The sex was amazing and it sated her like nothing else would, but I needed her back, in fighting condition. Our enemies were growing stronger.

I turned around and sat up with her in my arms. "Mac, you need to eat more." I spoke slowly. She took that as her cue to begin licking my neck.

I buried a hand in her hair and held her to me. She still smelled different. I noticed it after I'd brought her downstairs.

There had been so many smells in the abbey that I hadn't been sure. And everything had been masked by the smell of fresh paint. I will _not_ forget the part that old witch played in all of this. Hers will be a slow, painful death.

But now I was sure of it. She smelled like the rhymer...but as quickly as I thought it, I dismissed it. It wasn't possible. There was no way Darroc had access to it, but... _was that fuck V'lane there?_ I swear I'll rip that fucking faery to pieces if he laid one hand on her.

She no longer cowered when she sensed my anger like she had when I first took her out of the abbey. She straightened herself so that her breasts were in my face while her hands began massaging my scalp and then my shoulders. We stayed like that for a while.

"Mac." It came out as a sigh.

I'd also been working on getting her to speak. I talked to her incessantly. My Mac would have liked that. I kept looking into those green depths thinking I saw her in there, but then her eyes would glaze over. I focused on the basics, eating, speaking. But all she wanted to do was fuck.

I'd wanted her from the moment her tight pink ass walked into my store. But not like this.

I thought I could do this, not let it affect me, but it was quickly becoming impossible for me to separate this from my own wants and desires.

I pulled her down so that her face was level with mine. "Mac, your name is Mac. And I'm Jericho."

Her full lips parted. She stared at me, then at my lips. Her lips moved as if she was trying to understand, or maybe she was just mimicking me.

_Come home Mac, come home to me._

She and I had a way of communicating. Neither one of us was willing to give in first. There had been moments, several memorable ones in fact. But just when I thought she might admit that she felt something for me, I'd slam it back in her face. We didn't need to complicate things. I knew deep down that would be a mistake with her. She'd always told me that when this was over she was going home to her quiet little life in Ashford.

I respected that. I respected that she had loyalties that lay elsewhere. So did I. She could never know about them. It would mean her certain death. And I wasn't about to let that happen.

I wanted her to want me. I wanted her to despise me so she wouldn't want me. If she had admitted that she had feelings for me, would I have done things differently? I kept hoping she would go home, go someplace safe. It would have been safer, for both of us.

But she just had to keep pushing, trying to get inside my head. I hated it. I craved it.

She tried to make my bookstore a home of sorts. I wanted her to tell me the real reason she bought me a cake. She wouldn't. Would she and I never get past the walls we had so carefully erected?

She wanted me to be more like her. I wanted her to become more like me. I thought if she did it would keep her alive. I watched her eat the cake. I should have just stayed away that night. She could have eaten her cake, disappointed, but at least she would have enjoyed it.

I smashed a lot of things that night. After she had finally gone up to bed I went out and smashed some more.

I was never going to apologize for wanting to keep her safe, from everything. Including me. Especially me. I knew she wouldn't call me to send a plane for her, but I wanted her to know it was still available to her.

I went to such great lengths, and for what?

The walls had come down and she was lost to me. It wasn't supposed to be like this. I wanted her back in her safe little pink world.

Instead, while I wasted my time trying to do something that was never going to work, she had been raped, her will taken, her mind gone.

This woman was under my skin. Deep. I was going to make sure she walked away from this.

The only question was, would I?


End file.
